The Philippine Air Force is set to take delivery of the first two of 12 Korean-made trainer jet fighters worth P18.9 billion it ordered from Korean Aerospace Inc.
PAF spokesman Colonel Enrico Canaya on Monday said the jets are not combat-ready and only capable of patrolling the country’s air space.
PAF chief Lieutenant General Jeffrey Delgado experienced the test flight on Nov. 6, 2015 in South Korea.
During the test flight, the two-seater jet was piloted by an officer of the Republic of Korea Air Force with Delgado at the rear seat as “co-pilot”.
Canaya said the Philippine Air Force has prepared for the delivery of the jets that could bring back PAF into the air with “speed” after the decommissioning of the F5 several years ago.
“Of course we’re excited because we will be having a new kind of jets with MAC 1.2 capability in our inventory. MAC 1.2 is faster than the speed of sound so that’s supersonic flight and we do not have that kind of aircraft in our inventory after the decommissioning of our F5. It’s the comeback of the supersonic age of the Air Force,” he said.
As stipulated in the contract, KAI will complete the delivery of the 12 jets by 2017.
Canaya said the first two jets will be delivered on a “touchdown” in Philippine soil.
“They will refuel somewhere—I don’t know yet—before their final leg to touchdown in our airstrip,” he said.
The addition of the trainer jet fighters will boost the country’s air domain patrol especially in the West Philippine Sea where some territories are contested by China, Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei.
